By Shanti Kaur

Sapat Saring

The story of Guru Gobind Singh begins high in the sacred mountains of the Himalayas, where the air is cold and clear. There you will find a secluded lake known as Sapat Saring. This is a holy place where saints have meditated for millennia, and where great spiritual disciplines have been accomplished by yogis and rishis. Here the exalted Rishi Dushtdaman sat in deep meditation, passing the ages in love of his Lord.

The time came when the cries of anguish on earth moved the One God so deeply that He called His most beloved Rishi Dushtdaman to be born again on the physical plane. Very bluntly, the Rishi replied that he did not wish to be reborn. But the Lord explained the great need, and the Rishi bowed to the Will of God.

With the mission to protect the weak and destroy the tyrants who had gripped the world, the soul known as Rishi Dushtdaman took birth as the great warrior Guru Gobind Singh.

Born in Patna

Siri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, the Ninth Guru of the Sikhs, traveled extensively to sustain and care for Sikh communities spread throughout India. While journeying toward Bengal and Assam, his saintly wife, Mata Gujri, was blessed with child and could not continue the journey.

In August of 1666, Guru Tegh Bahadur left Mata Gujri in Patna, in eastern India, along with her brother Kirpal Chand and his own mother Mata Nanaki, and continued onward on his mission.

The holy child was born on the seventh night after the new moon—December 22, 1666. When the news reached Guru Tegh Bahadur, there was great rejoicing among the Sikhs. For days on end, celebrations spread throughout the Panth as the announcement traveled. Guru Tegh Bahadur named the child Gobind Rai.

Shah Bheekh Visits the Child

Like all children, the Tenth Guru was reared in the lap of his mother, Mata Gujri. His grandmother, Mata Nanaki, and his uncle, Kirpal Chand, lovingly protected him during his infancy. Gobind Rai was a beautiful child—cheerful in disposition and radiant in appearance.

At the time of Gobind Rai’s birth, a Muslim saint named Shah Bheekh, who lived in the village of Siana in the Karnal district, was in deep meditation. In his vision, he saw that an exalted soul had been born on the earth in the city of Patna—one destined to crush tyranny.

Shah Bheekh and his disciples traveled hundreds of miles to pay homage to this holy child. When he arrived, Kirpal Chand and others in the household initially suspected him of ill intent, but were soon satisfied and brought the child into the foyer.

Shah Bheekh touched his own eyes to the feet of the young Guru and offered two earthen pots filled with sweets. The handsome prince leaned forward with dancing eyes and placed one hand on each pot. The Shah bowed low, offered gifts to the family, and departed—taking both pots with him.

When he rejoined his followers, they asked why he had brought both pots back instead of leaving them as a gift. Shah Bheekh replied that he had offered two pots to see whom the Guru would protect and whom he would annihilate—the Hindus or the Muslims. When the Guru touched both pots, the Shah understood that the Prince would protect all people and destroy only brutality.

Childhood Pranks

As Gobind Rai grew, there was no child more precocious than he. Yet even his pranks and games were directed toward the elevation of the soul.

When he was able to walk, his mother tied a beautiful turban on his head. One day, a devotee brought a jeweled turban pin, a kalgi, adorned with gems and a plume of feathers. Gobind Rai wore it proudly, and people began calling him Kalghian Wala.

As he grew older, he played with other children in the streets and marketplaces of Patna. The city became his playground. He organized his friends into mock battle formations, marching through the bazaars with sticks and slingshots as weapons. Every morning he went to Asa di Var, bringing his friends with him.

An elderly woman lived not far from his home. She was very poor and supported herself by spinning cotton yarn. Sometimes Gobind Rai would wait for her to pass on her way to the market, then suddenly scatter the basket of yarn from her head and run away.

The woman complained repeatedly to Mata Gujri, who would give her clothes and money, sending her away content. Finally, Mata Gujri asked Gobind Rai why he continued this behavior. He replied that it was not the yarn he was destroying, but the stains on her soul—and that through this, her life of poverty was slowly being erased, for his mother was giving her far more than she could ever earn in the bazaar.

Playing at the Ganges

Gobind Rai and his friends learned to swim at an early age, which was unusual for children of that time. Often they went to the holy Ganges to swim and play.

One morning at sunrise, a man stood at the river offering solemn prayers to the rising sun. His body was covered with leprosy sores. Gobind Rai and his friends ran into the water, splashing joyfully, chanting “Gobind, Gobind, Gobinda,” and circling the devotee.

Angered by what he thought was disrespect, the man reached out to seize one of the children but fell into the water. The children ran away. When the man stood up again, his leprosy had completely vanished. In that moment, he realized he had been blessed by Gobind, the Lord of the World.

Shiv Dutt

Pandit Shiv Dutt, who had been observing this scene during his own morning meditation on the riverbank, prostrated himself before Gobind Rai, exclaiming, “Gobind, Gobind, Hari, Hari! I have seen Gobind with my own eyes!”

From that day on, Shiv Dutt met Gobind Rai daily on the banks of the Ganga—not as an elder speaking to a child, but as a disciple meets his Guru. He lovingly called him Bala Pritam, the Beloved Child.

Each morning, Shiv Dutt returned to that sacred spot—not to worship his brass statues, but to hold the vision of Bala Pritam in his heart. Sometimes Gobind Rai would appear; at other times, Shiv Dutt would go to the child’s home to join the sangat. Though criticized by fellow Brahmins, he did not waver. To this day, that place on the Ganga is known as Gobind Ghat.

Raja and Rani Fateh Chand Maini

It soon became known that whatever Gobind Rai spoke, whether in blessing, jest, or even anger, came to pass.

Raja Fateh Chand Maini was a wealthy landowner, yet he and his wife had no children. They came to Pandit Shiv Dutt and ask him to pray for them so that they could have a child. The Pandit advised them to meditate on Bala Pritam.

As they meditated, they became so absorbed in the bliss of the practice that their longing for a child dissolved. They desired only the darshan of that Child.

One day, as they sat in deep meditation, Gobind Rai himself burst into their home, climbed into the Rani’s lap, placed his hands on her face, and called out softly, “Mother, mother.” She opened her eyes and was overwhelmed by divine rapture at the sight of Bala Pritam!

Shiv Dutt entered close behind and began singing joyfully, “Too(n)hi, Too(n)hi, Sada Too(n)hi.” Bala Pritam laughed and joined in song.

When Bala Pritam said, “Mother, I am hungry,” the Rani hurried to serve him. He asked not for sweets, but for puri and chhole. She brought what she had, children started to fill the house, and Bala Pritam lovingly served them all before sitting to eat himself.

Maini Sangat

From that day on, Bala Pritam visited Fateh Chand’s home almost daily. At Rehras time, no one knew whether he would appear at his own home or at Fateh Chand’s, so the sangat gathered at both places until dusk revealed where he would arrive. To this day, Rehras Sahib at Takhat Patna Sahib begins later than other Takhats, just after dusk in remembrance of this tradition. Later, Fateh Chand and his wife turned their home into a Gurdwara, now known as Gurdwara Maini Sangat, where chhole and puri continue to be served as prashad every day.

Leaving Patna

Despite all the affection lavished upon him, Gobind Rai longed to be with his father. When he was seven years old, Guru Tegh Bahadur called for the family to return to Anandpur Sahib.

The sangat of Patna was heartbroken and Rani Fateh Chand grieved deeply. Bala Pritam gave her a sword, a kirpan, and one of his own cholas, saying:

“When you miss me, look at these, and you will see my face. Invite my friends and feed them chole and puri.  I will be there among them.”

To the entire sangat he said:

“When you miss me, meditate in the early morning and you will glimpse me within. Then look into the faces of the sangat—you will see me, here and there, again and again.”
 

Even today, his words remain true. In the quiet hours before dawn, when the world is still and the mind is clear, we too can sit in remembrance and meditation. In that sacred early-morning space, the presence of Guru Gobind Singh is not distant or confined to history. He appears within the heart as courage, clarity, and fearless love. When we rise in the Amrit Vela and turn inward, we glimpse him first within ourselves—and then, as he promised, in the faces of the sangat, reflected again and again in the living spirit of those who walk this path.